this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2023
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Microsofts new Terms and Service agreement is rather questionable. In short; It does not clarify if Microsoft will use your data to train it's AI.

So Mozilla is calling for arms to sign their petition for Microsoft to give a proper answer! You can sign it here -> https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/campaigns/microsoft-ai/

Mozillas Context;

Ask Microsoft: Are you using our personal data to train AI? We had four lawyers, three privacy experts, and two campaigners look at Microsoft's new Service Agreement, and none of our experts could tell if Microsoft plans on using your personal data – including audio, video, chat, and attachments from 130 products, including Office, Skype, Teams, and Xbox – to train its AI models.

If nine experts in privacy can't understand what Microsoft does with your data, what chance does the average person have? That's why we're asking Microsoft to say if they're going to use our personal data to train its AI.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 11 months ago (1 children)

On my work PC it's painfully obvious that MS tracks every word you type into Teams and Outlook based on the clickbait shit they plaster all over the MSN homepage. It's always customized to include topics that were discussed in my work messages.

Nowhere in any of the Office365 land do you see a notification that they are analyzing everything you do, but it remains obvious that they are.

This leads to the reasonable conclusion that they will abuse your data for any avenue of profit.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (2 children)

That’s wild. Are you serious? Can you point to any proof or articles about that direct reflection of the snooping? I assume your employer had to agree to their information being used for advertising/etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

No I haven't researched it at all, I have simply observed it in action as the crap they push through on a browser without an adblocker. Lots of very specific things related to the contents of my work discussions.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 11 months ago (1 children)

my opinion is:... it's obvious. it's microsoft. they do everything to make profit, AI included.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not defending Microsoft, but isn't that the same for all companies.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Is mozilla the only company fighting for privacy?

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

if the document doesn't explicitly say that they don't.. they do. and even if it did, odds are they (or one of their 'partners') do anyway.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago (8 children)

Is there any guide for a windows noob that wants to switch to Linux? I mostly use software that manages my video and audio collection. I don’t know where to start.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

YouTube is honestly the best place for tutorials. I went from being a complete Linux noob to running more Linux in the house than I can count, just by watching video on YouTube.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

DJ Ware's YouTube channel is awesome. For instance, he has a nice video on distros for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30mLqdQw3qE

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

For questions you may have the [email protected] community is very welcoming. In theory there are also [email protected] and [email protected] which should be more targeted at new users but they seem to be quite inactive lately (won't hurt anyone here to go take a look there and try to keep them alive :-)).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Thanks buddy.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Start using free software now, while you are still on Windows. Whenever you want to do something new, do a search for free software you can do it with. Then when you do finally switch, all the software you've been using is already right there.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

If you want to get emerged into the linux world and get broad understanding then I recommend watching videos on youtube by DistroTube. Adjacent, kinda more advanced channels are Luke Smith and Brodie Robertson.

If you just want to use linux and be done with that topic, you can use linux mint. What you have to know is that you get all software from the software center, not from websites. The rest should be very familiar.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I recommend a virtual machine on your Windows PC as a host.

Start simple, e.g. do all your web browsing in the Linux VM. Don't try to transition entirely to Linux in one go, that's too much. Once you're comfortable in the web browser, add one more piece of software.

Eventually get to the point where you're doing everything in the VM for a month or so, and then boot into it directly. Or perhaps buy a second PC and a KVM for your keyboard/mouse/monitor. Because you might find there's one thing (e.g. games) that works better on Windows.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

keyboard video mouse switch (for using one set of keyboard, mouse, and video with multiple computers). Think of it like a channel changer

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Why ask when you know the answer is yes?

If the product is free, you are the product. Even when it's not free, you're still the product because data is too valuable.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago (4 children)

although a good mentality, its not always correct. Also, this isn't just about "asking", it's fighting big corps/tech to be more transparent about their policies.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (7 children)

I'm just going to start posting in Esperanto. Even AI won't be interested in learning Esperanto.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Too late, it already has learned it:

Default (GPT-3.5)

User: Translate the following text into Esperanto: "I'm just going to start posting in Esperanto. Even AI won't be interested in learning Esperanto."

ChatGPT: "Mi ĵus komencos afiŝi en Esperanto. Eĉ la intelekta artifiko ne estos interesita lerni Esperanton."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

They do exist! :-)

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Signed. Thanks Mozilla and fuck you Microsoft

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

“Open”AI stole the open web and monetized it and made billions , and there are no solid legal consequences. So why Microsoft and other companies wont do the same? I mean Google is doing it and made an empire of it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago

Good question.

For me, there is a difference - I feel differently about a company using stuff I posted on the open web vs messages I've sent on Teams, Skype, etc., which feel like they should be more private. There is probably also a legal/privacy angle for this difference too, for this same reason (?)

[–] sarmale 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Was openai ever open? Or its just a name scheme

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

I've been meaning to look that up for a while

OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it “Open” AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft.

Interesting

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What if i publish all my personal data myself. What if i also publish with a licence forcing anything that uses it to be opensource?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Same thing they're doing right now: ignoring the license.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Does the pope shit in the woods?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Only if nobody is around to hear it

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

too bad they aren't waiting for the answer (lmao) before switching to microsoft git hosting for their development

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Something something spez the hurensohn also jumping in on the same bandwagon some time back?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I mean, it is. They keep a list of all your conversations and they are extremely vague about giving a direct reply. Hopefully this does something because, like US congress has itself admitted, they cannot afford to let the same thing happen with advanced AIs that they've let happen with social networks. Transparency needs to be a thing, and not fake "oh yeah I'm all about transparency" then goes out of their way to hide shit under the carpet or gaslight with bullshit when they can't.

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